The Relations Between The United States And Cuba

Another reason forimplementing the embargo on Cuba concerns the corrupt communist government andUS hopes of promoting a transition to a democratic system. On February 3, 1962,President Kennedy was confident that “Castro was moving toward theestablishment of a to! talitarian regime in alliance with the Soviet Union”(DeVarona 7). This raised a huge national defense issue since Cuba is only 90miles from US soil. The US government claims that the transition from communismto democracy will help Cuba flourish, as other democratic countries in thewestern hemisphere have. (“Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of1996”).

During the Cold War, relations between Cuba and the United States were icy. Cuba was allied with the USSR, America’s enemy, and was well within their sphere of influence. With events like the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis happening on their soil, Cuba was at the center of the Cold War. Between ideological differences and their alliance with Russia, Cuba became an enemy of America as well. It took the efforts of ten American presidents, six Popes, and countless other actors, but Cuba and America are finally in the process of normalizing relations. There is still work to be done, but the path is clear and the time is right. However, one cannot simply ignore the last fifty years. In that time, millions of lives were affected by the lack of social, economic, and political ties between the U.S. and Cuba. In this paper, I will analyze the last fifty years of U.S. - Cuban relations by looking at the involved actors, their means, and their values and interests through the lenses of two paradigms, realism and constructivism.

The United States and Cuba have had a history of tension that goes back about 50 years. Within those years, an embargo was placed that kept Cuba isolated from participating in activities such as trade with the U.S. In 2008, a major step towards

The United States embargo of Cuba has its roots planted in 1960, 53 years ago, when “the United States Congress authorized President Eisenhower to cut off the yearly quota of sugar to be imported from Cuba under the Sugar act of 1948… by 95 percent” (Hass 1998, 37). This was done in response to a growing

Cuba is a nation that formed from a history of colonial and imperial domination. Formal colonial status under Spain ended during the invasion by the United States in 1898, when military and corporate interests made the island a de facto colony of the United States. However, Cuba and the United States have had a long history of both political and military ties; both good and bad. Nevertheless, these ties have played a vital role in the current relationship the United States maintains with Cuba. In the recent years, both countries have continued to work toward a better diplomatic relationship; possibly enhancing the overall success of both Cuba and the United States.

The U.S. and Cuban controversies have been around since 1962. The president has decided that isolating Cuba has not worked and recently loosened travel restrictions and exports restrictions. Although this is a huge step to right directions economically, cultural effects so far have been minimal for both the U.S. and Cuba. Politically, Cuba is a socialist country, however, has been taking steps to democracy. For example, reforms breaking up government owned lands and authorizing self employment in many occupations. With the embargo lifted, it is expected that Cuba takes more steps in the right direction. On the economic side of things, Cuba still has strict control on foreign investment, but it is expected with time that investors will be

The United States is known for being one of the greatest and strongest countries in the world looking at past events and in this day and age. What might strike some people as shocking is that the U.S. would not be as strong without close ties with other countries or allies. Examples would be France, England, and Canada, plus many more. What people don’t talk about is the U.S.’s rivals or countries that the U.S. has had trouble with in the past leading up to now. One of the most renowned countries is only ninety miles away from the southern tip of Florida and that is Cuba. Cuba is known for the fantastic beaches, some of the most well-known baseball players around, and, of course, Cuban cigars and rum. But, the past with Cuba is not as bright as the U.S. wants it to be because of historical events such as the embargo, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban missile crisis during World War II that caused the two countries to separate as allies and close tied nations. Over the past year the U.S. and Cuba have been trying to put the past behind them and have diplomatic and cultural relations once again.

In 1960 the United States, under President Eisenhower, established a partial embargo on the tiny island nation of Cuba (Rampersand, 402). That partial embargo became a complete embargo under President Kennedy in 1962. The United States established the embargo on Cuba to alter Cuba’s political clime. Looking back through the last 55 years, that goal has not been achieved. It is time to end the embargo on the island nation of Cuba re-establishing economic, scientific and cultural exchanges.

The U.S.’s relationship with Cuba has been arduous and stained with mutual suspicion and obstinateness, and the repeated U.S. interventions. The Platt agreement and Castro’s rise to power, served to introduce the years of difficulty to come, while, the embargo the U.S. placed on Cuba, enforced the harsh feelings. The two major events that caused the most problems were the Bays of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis.

On April 11, 2015 President Obama and Raul Castro met to hold the first meeting between Cuba and the United States in 54 years. The countries have announced to begin conversing after tension started during the Cold War. An embargo was placed on the country of Cuba in 1960 and in 1961 an end to all relations. President Obama has been working on rekindling the relationship of this island country. Because the United States lifted the embargo on Cuba the economy on the island will be boosted, there will be a change of correspondence between the United States and Cuba, as well as a reshaped interaction between the government and the people of Cuba.

Cuba and the Affects of the Embargo The island nation of Cuba, located just ninety miles off the coast of Florida, is home to 11 million people and has one of the few remaining communist regimes in the world. Cuba’s leader, Fidel Castro, came to power in 1959 and immediately instituted a communist program of sweeping economic and social changes. Castro allied his government with the Soviet Union and seized and nationalized billions of dollars of American property. U.S. relations with Cuba have been strained ever since. A trade embargo against Cuba that was imposed in 1960 is still in place today. Despite severe economic suffering and increasing isolation from the world community, Castro remains committed to communism. (Close Up

From the time, Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba tensions ran high between the Cuban government and the United States government. Relations between Cuba and the United States grew during Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. Not as much during the Eisenhower administration as the Kennedy administration did tensions between between the two countries intensify. Kennedy faced many a different situations as President. He faced such situations like the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Tensions have mounted high for a long time between Cuba and the United States.

The result of the Cold War caused the relationship of America and Cuba to break because of USSR Vs USA(History.com).In 1922 the in post- revolutionary russia , the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is established. It was a comprising conference between Russia , Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation. In the USSR , all the levels of government were controlled by the Communist Party and the party’s politburo. With its powerful general secretary and it is effectively ruled by the country. During World War II , there was surprising term of event . The U-S and the Soviet Union was didn’t not get along with each other . They would not agree to each other ruling. But the alliance between the US and the Soviet Union in 1941 to 1945

Before the rise of Cuban communism, the United states had established close economic ties with Cuba since the early 1800’s when Spanish-Controlled Cuba was a leading supplier of sugar cane and a thriving center for trade. Due to the Spanish American war, there was not much trade going through Cuba, which crushed its economy.

Able to weather a variety of political leaders, economic events, and historical eras, the U.S. embargo of Cuba is the longest and harshest embargo by one state against another in modern history. Following Castro’s overthrow of the Batista government in 1959 and threats to incite revolutions elsewhere in Latin America, the Unites State cancelled its trade agreement to buy Cuban sugar. Then, following a series of increasing hostile events, the United States severed diplomatic relations and initiated a full trade embargo in 1962. Trade between the United States and Cuba stopped. Spurred by the collapse of communism more than thirty years later, Congress